Bus Com - Chapter 5 Critical Thinking and Chapter Review

Critical Thinking

1. “E-mail is no longer a cutting edge tool,” says The New York Times. “But it is clear that some people still do not know how to use it effectively.” What have you heard are the major complaints about the use of business e-mail?
2. What do you think this statement means? Instant messaging could be the dial tone of the future. Do you agree or disagree?
3. Why are lawyers and technology experts warning companies to store, organize, and manage computer data, including e-mail and instant messages, with sharper diligence?
4. Discuss the ramifications of the following statement: Once a memo or any other document leaves your hands, you have essentially published it.
5. Ethical Issue: Should managers have the right to monitor the e-mail messages and instant messages of employees? Why or why not? What if employees are warned that e-mail could be monitored? If a company establishes an e-mail policy, should only in-house transmissions be monitored? Only outside transmissions? See the Communication Workshop for this chapter for more on this topic.

Chapter Review
6. Name six forms of electronic communication and briefly describe each.
7. Are e-mail messages and interoffice memorandums interchangeable as communication channels?
8. How are the structure and formatting of e-mail messages and memos similar and different?
9. What are four questions you should ask yourself before writing an e-mail or memo?
10. Suggest at least ten pointers that you could give to a business e-mail user.
11. Name at least five rules of e-mail etiquette that show respect for others.
12. What do you think are the five most important practices for those sending instant messages at work?
13. What is the writing plan for an information or procedure message?
Subject line:
Opening:
Body:
Closing:
14. What is the writing plan for a request message?
Subject line:
Opening:
Body:
Closing:
15. What is the writing plan for a reply message?
Subject line:
Opening:
Body:
Closing:

Bus Com Chapter 4

Critical Thinking

1. Your deadline is due, but your document needs proofreading. Should you spend the time necessary to proofread and miss the deadline.
2. Do you agree that good writers can sit down at a computer and turn out perfect documents on the first try? Why or why not?
3. Because clichés are familiar and have stood the test of time, do they help clarify writing?
4. Study the following sentence from an actual message: “Management was the driving farce behind the project.” How could this proofreading error be costly?
5. Is it unethical to help a friend revise a report when you know that the friend will be turning that report in for a grade?

Chapter Review
6. What tasks are involved in revising a message?
7. Why is conciseness especially important in business?
8. What is a long lead-in? Give an original example.
9. What is wrong with this sentence: “There is no one who can do the job better than you.”
10. What is redundancy? Give an example.
11. What happens when a verb (such as describe) is converted to a noun expression (to make a description)? Give an original example.
12. Name five design techniques that can improve readability of printed messages. Be prepared to explain each.
13. What is the difference between serif and sans serif typefaces? What is the most common use for each?
14. What five areas should you especially pay attention to when you proofread?
15. Howe does the proofreading of routine documents differ from that of complex documents?

Bus Com Chapter 3

1. "Writing is both a 'marker' of high-skill, high-wage, professional work and a 'gatekeeper' with clear equity implications," said Bob Kerry, chair of the Commission on Writing. What does this statement mean in relation to your career field?
2. Why is audience analysis so important in choosing the direct or indirect pattern of organization for a business message?
3. How are speakers different from writers in the way they emphasize ideas?
4. Why are short sentences and short paragraphs appropriate for business communication?
5. When might it be unethical to use the indirect method of organizing a message?

6. Compare the first phase of the writing process with the second phase.
7. For routine writing tasks, what are some techniques for collecting informal data and generating ideas?
8. What is the difference between a list and an outline?
9. Why do many readers prefer the direct method for organizing messages?
10. When is the indirect method appropriate, and what are the benefits of using it?
11. List four techniques for achieving emphasis through style.
12. What is parallelism? Give an original example.
13. What are the four sentence types, and what do they consist of?
14. What is a topic sentence, and where is it usually found in business messages?
15. List three techniques for developing paragraph coherence.

Bus. Com. - Chapter 2 Questions

Critical Thinking
1. Why do you think employers prefer messages that are not written like high school and college essays?
2. How can the three-phase writing process help the writer of a business report as well as the writer of an oral presentation?
3. Discuss the following statement: "The English language is a land mine-it is filled with terms that are easily misinterpreted as derogatory and others that are blatantly insulting...Being fair and objective is not enough; employers must also be so."
4. Why is writing in a natural, conversational tone difficult for many people?
5. If computer software is increasingly able to detect writing errors, can business communicators stop studying writing techniques? Why or why not?

Chapter Review
6. How can a writer make a message audience oriented and develop audience benefits? Provide an original example.
7. List the three phases of the writing process and summarize what happens in each phase. Which phase requires the most time?
8. What six factors are important in selecting an appropriate channel to deliver a message? What makes one channel richer than another?
9. How does profiling the audience help a business communicator prepare a message?
10. List three specific techniques for developing a warm, friendly, and conversational tone in business messages.
11. Why is it OK to use instant messaging abbreviations (such as BTW) and happy faces in messages to friends but not OK in business messages?
12. Why does positive language usually tell more than negative language? Give an original example.
13. List five examples of sexist pronouns and nouns.
14. List at least five principles of the Plain English movement.
15. Why should business writers strive to use short, common, simple words? Does this "dumb down" business messages?

Bus Com - Chapter 1 Review Questions

6. What percentage of new jobs require postsecondary education?
7. Are communication skills acquired by nature or by nurture? Explain.
8. List seven trends in the workplace that affect business communications. Be prepared to discuss how they might affect you in your future career.
9. Give a brief definition of the following words:
___a. Encode
___b. Channel
___c. Decode
10. List 11 techniques for improving your listening skills. Be prepared to discuss each.
11. When verbal and nonverbal messages conflict, which are receivers more likely to believe? Give an original example.
12. Would your culture be classified as high- or low-context? Why?
13. What is ethnocentrism, and how can it be reduced?
14. List seven or more suggestions for enhancing comprehension when you are talking with nonnative speakers of English. Be prepared to discuss each.
15. List five suggestions for improving communication among diverse workplace audiences. Be prepared to discuss each.